Filming began on 6 January2014,[3] and ended on 7 August of the same year.[4] Series 8 was the first series since series 5 in 2010 to be broadcast straight with no series split halfway through it, and the first series of the revival not to consist of 13 episodes (excluding Christmas and other specials), instead running for 12.

Samuel Anderson joined the cast as a new recurring character, Danny Pink, a fellow teacher at Coal Hill School.[6] Although initially reported by media as being a new companion for the Doctor, in fact the character never actually took on an official companion role during the course of the season.

This series also saw the return of the Master, now in a female incarnation known as Missy, played by Michelle Gomez, which was the first time a Time Lord had been portrayed in two distinct genders. The overarching story elements revolve around characters who have died in the episode being greeted to 'Heaven,' by Missy, where the heaven is revealed to be a data cloud to store the minds of the deceased, as Missy upgrades the bodies into Cybermen before manipulating the minds to delete their emotions and put them into their old cyber-upgraded bodies as an army. This is a plan to lure the Doctor into a trap so she can get her 'friend back.'

Brian Minchin, the new producer of the series, explained in the July 2013 issue of Doctor Who Magazine that "I have just spent a very happy few days meeting some scarily clever writers, and we have an incredible set of stories to work on. More adventures ahead!". In a May 2013 interview, Steven Moffat claimed that "the next season is plotted out."[12]

Reappearance of Danny Pink. Explores a narrative left unresolved at the end of the Series 5 finale, The Big Bang. Clara reconsiders her decision and resumes travelling with the Doctor. Features a guest appearance by Foxes as a singer; Foxes also did a cover of "Don't Stop Me Now" to promote this episode and Series 8 itself.

This is the first series since Series 5 to end with a two-part story and the first since Series 6 to have an officially-designated two-parter.

Two episodes experienced censorship issues during the series. BBC Entertainment serving SouthEast Asia announced it was required to delete a brief sequence from the region's broadcasts of Deep Breath showing Vastra and Jenny transferring oxygen by way of a kiss due to some jurisdictions prohibiting the depiction of same-sex kissing. On 4th September 2014, BBC One announced that a brief sequence in Robot of Sherwood was to be deleted from its broadcast on 6th September out of concern that it might offend viewers in the wake of the recent execution of two Western journalists by terrorists.[18]

Counting The Day of the Doctor as part of Series 7, this is the first series in which the 9th and 10th Doctor TARDIS interior does not appear.

The title sequence of Death in Heaven has Jenna Coleman credited before Peter Capaldi and Clara's eyes appear instead of the Doctor's, thus marking the first time for a companion both being credited before the main incarnation of the Doctor in the episode and replacing the Doctor's face in the opening credits.

This series is the only series during Steven Moffat's time as showrunner to not include a story written by Toby Whithouse.

Contrary to common belief, season 10 kicked off in the last week of December 1972 — not in 1973, as would be expected. Season 10 actually began nine years after season 1 started. In fact, The Three Doctors began nine years to the week after The Daleks first aired.

For the purposes of this list, "Series 4" is considered to be the production series 4, which ran all the way from Time Crash to The End of Time.

The years seen in this section may seem decidedly "off". Remember, however, that this list only gives the first year in which an episode from a series was broadcast. David Tennant, unusual amongst other Doctors, began and ended on special episodes, not regular ones. Thus, his series actually begin in 2005, 2006 and 2007 — not 2006, 2007 and 2008 as is commonly thought.